Cubs 2016 Regular Season Schedule

Most of us are more concerned right now with the four remaining weeks in the 2015 season, but if you're looking ahead, Major League Baseball has announced the tentative schedule for next year.

For the first time since the leagues went to 15 teams each and thus required year-round interleague play, the Cubs will open the season against an American League squad.

The Cubs will open the 2016 season in Anaheim against the Angels for two games (later, the Angels play a pair at Wrigley Field), then follow that up with a set in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. It's been 11 years since the Cubs played the D'backs this early in the year (they opened the season there in 2005). That will give the Cubs a needed break from chilly Midwest weather for a week before they open the home season at Wrigley Field April 11 against the Reds. I had hoped the Cubs would be home against the Reds on April 20, which will be the 100th anniversary of the first Cubs game at what is now Wrigley Field, but they'll have to settle for celebrating that anniversary a bit early. It will also allow a bit of extra time for any offseason construction to wrap up.

The Cubs will finish the season on the road for the third straight year, this time in Cincinnati.

Other A.L. teams the Cubs will play: the Athletics (in Oakland, a weird one-city, three-game road trip to the West Coast, though with an off day on either side), the Rangers and Mariners (at Wrigley) and the Astros in Houston, as well as the annual home-and-home sets with the White Sox, which in 2016 will be a pair of two-game series (as they were in 2013 and 2014).

Here's the complete schedule. All times Central.

April 5-6: at L.A. Angels (9:05, 9:05)
April 7-8-9-10: at Arizona (8:40, 8:40, 7:10, 3:10)
April 11, 13-14: Cincinnati (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
April 15-16-17: Colorado (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
April 18-19-20: at St. Louis (7:15, 7:15, 12:45)
April 21-22-23-24: at Cincinnati (6:10, 6:10, 6:10, 12:10)
April 26-27-28: Milwaukee (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
April 29-30, May 1: Atlanta (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
May 2-3-4: at Pittsburgh (6:05, 6:05, 11:35 am)
May 5-6-7-8: Washington (7:05, 1:20, 3:05, 1:20)
May 9-10-11: San Diego (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
May 13-14-15: Pittsburgh (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
May 17-18-19: at Milwaukee (7:10, 7:10, 12:40)
May 20-21-22: at San Francisco (9:15, 6:15, 7:05)
May 23-24-25: at St. Louis (7:15, 7:15, 12:45)
May 27-28-29: Philadelphia (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
May 30-31, June 1-2: L.A. Dodgers (4:05, 7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
June 3-4-5: Arizona (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
June 6-7-8: at Philadelphia (6:05, 6:05, 12:05)
June 10-11-12: at Atlanta (6:35, 3:10, 12:35)
June 13-14-15: at Washington (6:05, 6:05, 3:05)
June 17-18-19: Pittsburgh (1:20, 7:15, 7:05)
June 20-21-22: St. Louis (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
June 23-24-25-26: at Miami (6:10, 6:10, 3:10, 12:10)
June 27-28-29: at Cincinnati (6:10, 6:10, 11:35 am)
June 30, July 1-2-3: at N.Y. Mets (6:10, 6:10, 6:15, 12:10)
July 4-5-6: Cincinnati (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
July 8-9-10: at Pittsburgh (6:05, 6:15, 12:35)
July 11-12-13-14: All-Star break
July 15-16-17: Texas (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
July 18-19-20: N.Y. Mets (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
July 22-23-24: at Milwaukee (7:10, 6:10, 1:10)
July 25-26: at White Sox (7:10, 7:10)
July 27-28: White Sox (7:05, 7:05)
July 29-30-31: Seattle (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
August 1-2-3: Miami (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
August 5-6-7: at Oakland (9:05, 3:05, 3:05)
August 9-10: L.A. Angels (7:05, 7:05)
August 11-12-13-14: St. Louis (7:05, 1:20, 1:20, TBD)
August 16-17-18: Milwaukee (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
August 19-20-21: at Colorado (7:40, 7:10, 3:10)
August 22-23-24: at San Diego (9:10, 9:10, 2:40)
August 26-27-28: at L.A. Dodgers (9:10, 3:05, 3:10)
August 29-30-31: Pittsburgh (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
September 1-2-3-4: San Francisco (7:05, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
September 5-6-7: at Milwaukee (1:10, 7:10, 7:10)
September 9-10-11: at Houston (7:10, 12:05, 1:10)
September 12-13-14: at St. Louis (7:15, 7:15, 12:45)
September 15-16-17-18: Milwaukee (7:05, 1:20, 3:05, 1:20)
September 19-20-21: Cincinnati (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
September 23-24-25: St. Louis (1:20, TBD, TBD)
September 26-27-28-29: at Pittsburgh (6:05, 6:05, 6:05, 6:05)
September 30, October 1-2: at Cincinnati (6:10, 3:10, 2:10)

When more game times become available I'll add them to this schedule, which will live in the "Really Important BCB Stuff" section on the front page. I should note that this schedule is tentative; these dates could still be tweaked some, but for the most part this is where you'll see the Cubs in 2016.